Knitted fabric or article and the production thereof



Jan. 17, 1939. R. K. MILLS 2,144,415A

KN IC OR ARTICLE AND I Filed May 19, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7/ Nm im;

, course to form stitch loops and vice Versa.

Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES KNITTED FABRIC OR ARTICLE AND THE PRODUCTION THEREOF Robert Kirkland Mills, Sherwood, Nottingham, England Application May 19,` 1937, Serial No. 143,603

In Great Britain May 25, 1936 f 7 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in knitted fabrics or articlesl .and in the production thereof, and is concerned with ladder-resistant selvedged fabrics, or articles, produced on a flat or straight Ibar knitting machine, such as a machine of the Cottons patent type. Considerable difliculty is experienced in making a good selvedge in fabrics which are ladder-resistant, and it is an object of the present invention to overcome this difficulty. With this object in view the invention, as viewed from one aspect, provides ilat or selvedged knitted fabric embodying locked or tied stitches and characterized by .a selvedge whereat thread extending from the termination vof one course of loops (stitch loops or stitch locking loops) to the commencement or a subsequent course of loops is knitted to form one or more stitches which intermesh with previously and subsequently formed stitches at the selvedge of the fabric.

The invention is specically concerned with fabric of the type comprising courses. of stitch loops alternating with courses 'of locking loops, in which said locking loops extend through and around the stitch loops and the thread'forming a course of locking loops is returned at the next In producing selvedged fabric of this type considerable diiliculty has heretofore been experienced in forming an eiective selvedge at that edge of the fabric whereat the carrier, having laid the thread for a course of locking loops, is reversed to lay the thread for the succeeding course of stitch loops. This difficulty is overcome by the present invention, which as viewed from another aspect, provides a knitted selvedged fabric of the type referred to, where in each course of locking loops terminates short of the selvedge edge and the thread extending from the last locking loop ls formed into selvedge stitch loops meshing with previously and subsequently formed stitch loops.

In the preferred arrangement thel said thread extending from the last locking loop forms a double loop in the succeeding course of stitch loops,

and the said double loop is inwards of the selvedge loop. That is to say it occupies a wale other than the Wale at the extreme edge of the fabric.

The invention also includes the production on a straight bar knitting machine of knitted fabric embodying stitches that are lockedor tied by stitch-locking loops, characterized in that a thread carrier subsequent to being traversed the normal extent required for a stitch course has imparted thereto a comparatively short additional traverse to lay thread over a small number of additional needles, and said needles are operated to produce knitted selvedge stitches intermeshing with sim, ilar selvedge stitches previously produced.

More specifically the invention provides a method of knitting selvedged fabric of the type' referred to, in which the thread for a course of locking loops is supplied to aless number of needles than that to which ithis supplied for a course of stitch loops and in which at the last formed end of a course of locking loops the thread from the last locking loop is fed to additional 10 needles and the latter are operated to produce unlocked stitch loops intermeshing with similar stitch loops of a preceding course.

In order that vthe invention may be better 'understood reference will now be made tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 to 4 inclusive show the successive steps in the method of producing a selvedge a`t that edge of fabric of Y the type referred to whereat the traverse of the thread carrier, after producing a course of'stitch 20 locking loops, is reversed tomake acourse of ordinary or plain stitch loops from the same thread.

'I'he fabric embodies courses of stitch loops a, which loops a are locked at each course by lock'- ing loops b. That is tc say courses of stitch loops alternate with courses of locking loops. These alternating courses are laid, as will readily be understood, by the movement to and fro-along the line of the needles by a thread carrier indicated at D, the said carrier being traversed in one ldirection to lay the thread for a course of stitch loops and then in the reverse directionI to lay the thread for a course of locking loops whereby said stitch loops are locked.

At that phase in the stitch production shown in Fig. 1 the needles have been lowered to knock over a course of stitch locking loops b, the sinkers retracted, and the thread carrier D,`during this initial projection of the sinkers, has been shogged out to the extent of two needles N1, N2, beyond the normal selvedge needle N3, this short movement of the carrier being from the position shown in broken lines to that shown in full lines. At this position the thread extends from the last formed locking loop b to the carrier within the top or bend of the beard of the normal selvedge needle N3, below the neb of the adjacent jack sinker lli and over the divider sinker Il and the last jack sinker lila. The needles now rise (Fig. 2) and the jacks and dividers are further projected therebetween, and the relative movement between the needles and sinkers may be such that the thread extending up from the fabric to the carrier passes to the frontl of the first additional selvedge needle N2, and to the rear of the end needle N1, said thread passing back into the 'elongated throat Ila of the divider sinker il.

From this position the needles are fully projected to clear the locked stitch loops on to the needle shanks below the beards and to receive the next feed of thread (Fig. 3), and the carrier D is then traversed in a reverse direction across the needle row above the noses of the sinkers preparatory to producing the next course of stitches. In this way the thread extends up from the4 fabric in front oi the shanks of needles N3 and W and becomes wrapped round the shank of the end needle N1. The subsequent retraction of the needles and pressing of same to produce a course of plain or unlocked stitch loops a forms a normal knitted stitch loop on the needle N3 and casts olf said needle, along with a previously formed stitch loop, a bar b1 of the thread fed during the vaforesaid short shogging movement of the carrier at the end of the preceding course. On the needle N1l a double-thread stitch is formed, while on the end selvedge needle Nl a single thread stitch is formed, as shown in Fig. 4.

In this manner it will be appreciated that a strong and firm selvedge is produced which while having a compact and even structure possesses an elasticity or resilience equal or substantially equal to that of the remainder of the fabric.

I claim:-

l. A selvedged knitting fabricof the type comprising courses of stitch loops and courses of stitch-locking loops, wherein each course of stitch-locking loops terminates short of the selvedge edge and the thread extending from the last locking loop is formed into selvedge stitch loops meshing with previously and subsequently formed stitch loops.

2. Fabric according to claim l, wherein said thread extending from the last locking loop forms a double loopin the succeeding course of stitch loops.

3. Fabric according to claim 1 wherein thread extending from the last locking loop forms the double loop in the succeeding course of stitch loops and wherein said double loop is located inwards of the selvedge loop.

4. A selvedge knitted fabric comprising courses of stitch loops alternating with courses of stitchlocking loops, wherein each course of stitch-lockloops terminates short of the selvedge edge and wherein beyond the last locking loop there is a few unlocked stitch loops constituted by the thread extending, from the said last locking loop, outwards to the selvedge loop and then back upon itself in the next course of stitch loops.

5. The production on a straight bar knitting machine of knitted fabric according to claim 1 embodying stitches that are locked or tied by stitch-locking loops, wherein a thread carrier subsequent to being traversed the normal extent required for a course of stitch-locking loops has imparted thereto a comparatively short additional traverse to lay thread over a small number of `additional needles, and said needles are operated to produce knitted selvedge stitches in'- termeshing with similar selvedge stitches previously produced.

6. 'I'he production of fabric according to claim 1, wherein thread is traversed in one direction to produce normal stitch loops and in an opposite direction to produce loops that are passed through and also around said stitch loops to look same, and wherein at the termination of each course of locked stitches the thread is carried to and fro over a comparatively small number of additional needles which are operated to produce intermeshing stitches other than locked stitches constituting a selvedge for the locked stitch fabric.

7. A method of knitting selvedged fabric according to claim l, of the type comprising courses of stitch loops alternating with courses of stitchlocking loops, in which the thread for a course of locking loops is supplied to a less number of needles than that to which it is supplied for a course of stitch loops and in which at the last formed end of a course of locking loops the thread from the last locking loop is fed to additional needles and the latter are operated to produce unlocked stitch loops intermeshing with similar Stitch loops of a preceding course.

ROBERT KIRKLAND MILLS.

CERTIFICATE OF C ORREC TION Patent No. 5114111415 January 17, 1959.

ROBERT KIRKLAND MILLS.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requir ing correction as follows: Page 2, first column, line 50, claim l, for the word "knitting" read knitted; and that the said Letters Patent shoullbe read with this correction therein that the same may conform tothe record of' the case in the Patent Office., y

signed and sealed this 7th dey of March, A.D. 1959.

v( Seal.)

Henry Van Arsdale Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

